MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. A Western country, in coordination with Kiev, plans to accuse Russia of supplying arms to drug cartels and other criminal groups in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement published on its website.

"Russia is to be accused of illegally providing weapons to drug cartels and other organized crime groups in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico. To this end, Russian-made weapons seized by the enemy during the special military operation are already being taken into those countries," the statement said.

The SVR said fabricated audio and video materials were also being prepared to support alleged "evidence" of Russia's transferring weapons to Latin Americans through intermediaries. The operation is also expected to include forged documents purportedly showing the involvement of Russian military personnel in the scheme.

The "directors" of the provocation against Russia naively hope to undermine Moscow’s constructive relations with Latin America and "persuade Latin American governments to support the West’s anti-Russian policy," the SVR said. "Russophobes can realistically achieve only one thing: once again show their lack of moral constraints and stereotyped thinking."

The intelligence agency also recalled that, since the start of the Ukraine conflict, Euro-Atlantic elites have waged an information war against Russia by promoting some of the vilest stories, "beyond the bounds of morality and law."

The SVR cited the "bloody staging" in Bucha in April 2022 as a prime example, saying it was used to further fuel the conflict in Ukraine. The intelligence agency added that Western spy agencies had used such staged incidents before.

"The World War II began after the Gleiwitz incident on August 31, 1939, when SS men dressed in Polish uniforms staged an attack on a radio station in the German border city of Gleiwitz. History has shown that the cost of such staged incidents can be extremely high, primarily for those who organize them," the SVR said.